OBSERVATIONS / RECOLLECTIONS / STORIES

The Iron Fence, Part 2

In my previous post about the early days of the University of Georgia, I introduced you to the iconic cast iron fence that separates the UGA campus from downtown Athens.

The iron fence, which was built in 1857 to keep livestock from wandering onto the campus, is now being repaired and restored.

When the fence was built, its centerpiece was a massive, three-pillared, cast iron arch facing downtown Athens. The Arch was intended to be, and still is, the formal entrance to the campus.

The Arch is a replica of the Great Seal of the State of Georgia, whose three pillars carry the words of the state motto: “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.”

(An ironic choice for a state that had to be dragged into modern times, and for a university that for its first hundred years admitted only white men. I’m just sayin’.)

In the old days, the Arch featured two iron gates that were swung shut at night. The gates disappeared in 1885, probably stolen by pranksters.

In 1946, the Arch was moved back about six feet inside the perimeter of the fence and placed at the top of a set of limestone steps. There it stands today.

In addition to being one of the most recognizable symbols of the University, the Arch also plays a major role in campus tradition.

According to UGA legend, when student Daniel Redfearn (Class of 1910) arrived on campus, he quietly vowed not to walk under the Arch until he had earned his diploma.

Redfearn didn’t say much about his pledge, but eventually, one of his professors found out and was so impressed that he announced it proudly to his classes.

As an undergraduate, Redfearn kept his word, even during hazing rituals, and he never walked under the Arch until after he graduated.

From that incident, a campus legend emerged that today has several forms.

One version is that no undergraduate who walks under the Arch will ever get a diploma from UGA.

Another version is that freshmen who walk through the Arch are doomed to academic failure and will not graduate on time.

Another is that freshmen who walk under the Arch will become sterile.

Take your pick.

Even though the legend is still well known, it isn’t followed as strictly as in the past. Spend 15 minutes watching students walk by the Arch, and you’ll see that about a quarter of them go through it, not around it.

But in the limestone steps on which the Arch stands, there is clear evidence of past adherence to the tradition.

Over time, the steps on each side have been worn down by foot traffic, showing where generations of undergraduates have detoured around the Arch.

But back to the iron fence and one final detail about it.

Actually, make that one finial detail.

For many years, each fence post was topped with a finial — in this case, a cast iron ball slightly larger than a softball.

The finials were screwed in place. I know this because over the years, most of the balls were unscrewed and spirited away as souvenirs, leaving a telltale threaded bolt pointing naked to the sky.

By the time I was a student at UGA in the 1960s, only about a dozen of the old round post-tops survived. Probably, they were rusted in place and thus stymied even the most determined of souvenir-hunters and inebriated fraternity boys.

As a student, I yearned deeply to possess one of those beautiful orbs. I dreamed of having the strength to unscrew one, and of having the courage to abscond with it in the dead of night.

What I would do with it, I didn’t know. But I wanted one with every molecule in my body.

That dream, as you might suspect, was never fulfilled. Whether to my credit or discredit, I never even attempted to swipe one.

But others did, and they succeeded. Today, not a single cast iron finial remains. I can attest to that, because I recently walked the perimeter of the fence to be sure.

Alas, if I had possessed enough fortitude as a youth, one of them would be mine.

So — now you know some interesting trivia about the old iron fence, the Arch, the UGA campus, and Athens.

You’re welcome.

Workers dismantle a section of UGA’s historic cast iron fence along Broad Street. The metal will be stripped, repaired, and repainted, and the sections will be reinstalled before classes resume in the fall.